Stacks of charcoal bags packed the back of the entry way at Hillery’s Bar-B-Q in Waukegan. The smoker glowed in full view of the bare-bones counter where people were stacked ordering or waiting on orders. And this was 3 or so in the middle of the afternoon.
I would find out why it was packed. Most were ordering chicken or catfish, but I went with pork shoulder, something I don’t have that often.
Friday afternoon, as I drove back from North Point Marina, I rode nearly exactly along with that dramatic cold front sagging south. One minute I would have the windows down and it was 80 or thereabouts. The next it was 60 or so and I was cranking the windows up and throwing the heat on.
Perfect day for barbecue. Or Bar-B-Que. Or BBQ.
Think of me as the Guy Fieri of the outdoors. Here to help on your excursions.
Just because it was a Friday, I wandered around back ways south to Grand Avenue, then west to Route 41 and eventually back on I-94.
And I was driving south on Lewis in Waukegan, near Sunset Bowl, I passed Hillery’s Bar-B-Q. Considering how many times I’ve covered bowling events at Sunset, I probably should have noticed Hillery’s (2021 N. Lewis) before.
Friday, it seemed perfect, so I whipped around and pulled in.
I had come to the right place.
“Hot or mild,” came the question in back as I ordered. “Hot,” I said, taking a risk. Turned out to be the right choice. Just enough heat to perk up the eating, not enough to nose in and intrude more than the pork shoulder itself.
It came out in the usual white styrofoam to-go platter: thick fries (my kind of thick fries, fried on the outside, soft in the middle), a container of cole slaw under the fries and a mound of pork shoulder and sauce inside of aluminum foil. A plastic sandwich bag of two slices of white bread sat on top of the box.
I wolfed down the slaw, fries and two overflowing sandwiches on the white bread. Then picked at the leftover pork shoulder. There was still enough for our boys to each have a sandwich Saturday.
I didn’t grow up with barbecue or smokers. It just wasn’t what we did or ate. But I truly learned to enjoy it as I began traveling more in the south, mainly for my job. Let me tell you, there are some wonderful barbecue joints in the middle of nowhere in the outdoors.
And, forgive me, but I am an addict of Fieri and his “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.” It satisfies twice. First just as comfort food in terms of television watching. Second, he actually finds places with true, basic comfort food.
Over the years, I’ve seen him have spots on that I’ve visited in my travels. And when I travel myself or our family, we will check for places he has been to in towns we are going through.
Our best so far in terms of following his lead was Sweetie Pie’s in St. Louis.
On the outdoor beat, I have two go-tos in southern Illinois.
First 17th Street Barbecue in Marion (just off I-57) or in Murphysboro, where I first tasted it with Chad Cain when I caught the muskie of my life and we went to celebrate more than 15 years ago.
Since then, I often whip off at Marion and eat there. When I would get to the Illinois State Fair in Springfield regularly, I would always forego fair food and eat at the booth 17th Street Barbecue had in Conservation World.
My other regular favorite is in Carlyle, which hosts the IHSA state championship for bass fishing each spring.
Les Winkeler, sports editor and long-time outdoors columnist for The Southern, grew up around Carlyle and recommended Wheelan’s Barbecue Shack. It has become a ritual for me either to eat my Friday night meal from there after I’ve made deadline or to eat there Saturday afternoon before the final weigh-in and I have time to grab a nap with a satisfied belly.
I’m big on satisfied bellies.
